President Ram Nath Kovind, on Thursday, held demonetisation as the defining moment in fight against black money, while crediting Goods and Services Tax (GST) for establishing an honest and transparent system.
Addressing the joint sittings of two houses of the Parliament, Kovind said that this government is working for ‘New India’ and infused new hopes in the masses.
“Prior to the 2014 General Election, the country was passing through a phase of uncertainty. After the elections, my government assumed charge and vowed to build a new India. A new India with no place for imperfect, corrupt and inertia ridden systems,” he said while setting the tone for budget session, last session of 16th Lok Sabha and present term of Narendra Modi-led government.
Terming the note ban move as a defining moment in the government’s war on corruption and black money, he said that this decision struck at the very root of the parallel economy thriving on black money; and the money outside the formal system was brought within the ambit of nation’s economy.
The registration of 3.38 lakhs dubious shell companies responsible for flow of black money have been annulled by the government. The directors of these companies have also been prohibited from holding such offices again. Assets worth more than ₹ 50 thousand crore are being confiscated under the Benami Property Act, Prevention of Money Laundering Act and the law against fugitive economic offenders. “As a result of the policies of my government, black money in real estate sector has declined substantially, the prices of houses have come down and the dream of a normal middle class family for possessing their own house is being realised,” he said.
Quoting Sardar Patel in accomplishing the challenging objective of geographic and political integration of the nation the President said that the task of economic integration is being done through introduction of GST. The new indirect tax system is proving instrumental in establishing an honest and transparent system of trade and commerce which is also benefitting the country’s youth. This system, while reducing the difficulties faced by traders, has enhanced their ease of doing business across the country. He went on to add that the government was continuously improving the GST regime keeping in view the suggestions being received from the business community.
The speech presented virtual report card of Modi Government highlighting achievements of various schemes and programs.
“India is playing a significant role in international trade. While India’s contribution to the world GDP was 2.6 per cent in 2014, it has increased to 3.3 per cent in 2017 as per the latest reports,” the President said while noting that this is an opportune moment for the country to play a decisive role in the fourth industrial revolution.
Here are his comments on various schemes and initiatives:
- Demonetisation was an important step taken by the government against black money and corruption
- More than Rs 50,000 crore worth of assets have been siezed under the Benami and Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
- In 2014, 3.8 crore taxpayers filed returns in 2014, which has now increased to 6.8 crore
- Implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) has made business easy in every part of the country
- Government has reduced taxes and kept inflation under control. This has increased prospects of more savings for the middle-class. Government is making effort so that hard-working middle class gets higher income and get more avenues for better investments.
- Under the Jan Dhan Yojana, 34 crore people have opened a bank account and almost every family in the country is connected to the banking system. According to an international agency, 55 percent of the total bank accounts opened between the year 2014 and 2017, were opened in India
- More than 15 crore entrepreneurs have taken benefits of Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana. Women have been a big beneficiary of this scheme, more than 73 percent beneficiaries are women.
- In the year 2014, only 59 village panchayats had access to digital connectivity in the country. Today, 1.16 lakh gram panchayats have been added to the optical fiber network and Wi-Fi hotspots have been installed in about 40,000 gram panchayats
- In 2014, the cost of 1GB data was Rs 250, it has now fallen down to Rs 10-12. Today India is the biggest nation with mobile phones.
- In the last four years, more than 1 crore 30 lakh houses have been built under the government's rural housing scheme
- Electricity has reached almost every village. Now, India is quickly moving towards a situation where every household will have electricity
- Over Rs 6.5 lakh crore have been transferred to beneficiaries under different Direct Benefit Transfer Schemes. This has resulted in savings of nearly Rs 1.10 lakh crore. Government has removed nearly 8 crore ghost beneficieries who were only present on papers.
Read the full speech here .